U.S. stock index futures were mixed on Monday morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average under renewed pressure by a drop in shares of Boeing.
Dow futures were down 51 points, indicating a slip of 30.87 points at the open. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a higher open, however.
Boeing shares dropped 3 percent in the premarket after the U.S. Department of Transportation launched an investigation into whether there were lapses in the Federal Aviation Administration’s approval of Boeing planes involved in two recent fatal crashes, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Investors are also awaiting the start of a two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting this week.
The U.S. central bank will begin its meeting on interest rates on Tuesday, which ends with a news conference on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve is expected to lower their interest rate forecasts — or “dot plots” — to show little or no further tightening in 2019.
There’s also a strong focus on a potential trade deal between the United States and China. The Chinese Vice Premier, Liu He, spoke via telephone with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer recently after a report in the South China Morning Post suggested that the two sides have made further progress.
Optimism regarding a potential U.S.-China trade deal boosted the stock market on Friday.
There is also strong attention on oil markets and an OPEC meeting. Russia’s energy minister Alexander Novak told CNBC over the weekend that his country will be fully compliant with OPEC-led supply cuts in the coming weeks.
Market participants are likely to monitor a fresh round of U.S. housing data. The National Association of Home Builders will release its monthly housing market survey at 10 a.m. ET.
